National Trust Executive Leadership
Carol Quillen
President and CEO
Carol Quillen is the president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Tabitha Almquist
Chief Administrative Officer
As chief administrative officer, Tabitha Almquist oversees the key administrative operations, including human resources and information technology, real estate needs of the organization at headquarters, and the strategic planning and goal setting processes for the Trust.
Thompson Mayes
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
Tom Mayes, chief legal officer and general counsel, has worked on the full range of National Trust legal issues since he joined the National Trust in 1986. A recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Rome Prize in Historic Preservation in 2013, Tom recently published the book Why Old Places Matter.
Ann McElwain
Chief Development Officer
As chief development officer, Ann McElwain leads development and implementation of all fundraising strategies for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, including individual, annual and planning giving, institutional philanthropy, and donor research, analytics, communications and stewardship.
Edward Whitaker
Interim Chief Marketing Officer
As the interim chief marketing officer, Ed Whitaker leads the effort to engage and inspire the National Trust’s core supporters and develop new audiences. He and his team develop and implement innovative marketing campaigns and products that attract new and existing advocates, donors, and corporate partners to the preservation community.
Denise Wise
Interim Chief Financial Officer
As the interim chief financial officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Denise Wise reports to the president and the board on all aspects of the financial health of the organization.
Leaders of the National Trust Preservation Division include the following individuals:
Omar Eaton-Martínez
Senior Vice President for Historic Sites
Omar Eaton-Martínez is the senior vice president for historic sites, where he leads the preservation, interpretation, and overall stewardship of 28 National Trust Historic Sites across the country to tell the full American story. He has had leading roles in racial equity organizations like Museums and Race: Transformation and Justice and Museum Hue as well as a part of the Museum as Site for Social Action project. Omar participated as an American Alliance of Museums Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) Senior Fellow, which is dedicated to diversifying museum boards. He is a gubernatorial appointee to the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first commission of its kind in the country. Omar is the current president of the board of directors for the Association of African American Museums and a member of the executive council for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
Di Gao
Senior Director of Research & Development
Di Gao serves as the senior director of research and development, leading a team that provides technical and analytical support to strategic initiatives across the National Trust. Di is responsible for developing new preservation initiatives including the America’s Chinatowns program, supporting project execution across various preservation initiatives, conducting feasibility analysis and business planning, helping to grow the organization’s GIS practice, and identifying growth areas for the National Trust. Di’s work is currently focused on the intersection of preservation and equity, inclusion, and social justice, and mobilizing preservation action to better support America’s Chinatowns and other APIA ethnic enclaves.
Brent Leggs
Executive Director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund & Senior Vice President
Brent Leggs is the founding executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the largest preservation campaign in U.S. history on behalf of historic African American places, and a senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Through the Fund, he leads a national community of leaders, preservationists, and activists to preserve the memory and legacy of Black American identity. Leggs’ work is rooted in telling the nation’s full history and leveraging historic preservation to mitigate the erasure of African American cultural heritage.
Rob Nieweg
Senior Vice President for Preservation Services & Outreach
Rob Nieweg leads the preservation services and outreach department, which manages the lion’s share of the National Trust’s grantmaking and technical assistance, convenes and connects people to promote best practices in preservation, and advocates to protect endangered historic places. Dedicated preservation professionals in the preservation services and outreach department implement the National Fund for Sacred Places, Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program, Preserve Route 66 initiative, Telling the Full History Preservation Fund, Where Women Made History program, PastForward national conference, Diversity Scholars Program, HOPE Crew, National Trust Preservation Fund, National Awards Program, Preservation Priorities Task Force, and the annual list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Shaw Sprague
Vice President for Government Relations
Shaw Sprague is the vice president of government relations, where he oversees the organization’s advocacy priorities before Congress and the Administration. Shaw leads a dynamic team of advocacy professionals in support of funding for historic preservation programs, strengthening state and federal incentives that promote building reuse, and preserving the places and stories that provide meaning to our nation. Shaw serves as the National Trust’s ex officio board representative for President Lincoln’s Cottage and Preservation Action. He also serves as an Advisory Trustee of Maine Preservation. Prior to his time with the National Trust, Shaw advocated for land conservation funding while at The Trust for Public Land and also worked as a legislative assistant to Senator Susan Collins on Capitol Hill.
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